Little Corn Island’s Giant Pipe Mystery

It was a piece of ocean debris unlike anything the Caribbean currents had ever washed ashore before. But what was this giant pipe? Who did it belong to? And where did it come from?

LITTLE CORN ISLAND- Some 43 miles off Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, and just a 30-minute boat ride from Big Corn Island, Little Corn Island is a true Caribbean paradise of white sand beaches, crystal-clear water, a healthy reef, and no roads or motorized vehicles. The island’s population of 1,200 inhabitants survive mostly off of lobster trapping, fishing and tourism. It’s a serene place where little changes and time passes slowly. There are few places like it left on Earth.

Earlier this year, however, the quiet island life was disrupted when a massive piece of marine debris washed ashore and sparked a mystery that has just recently been solved. What was this massive foreign object? Where did it come from? And how did it end up on the tiny Caribbean island?

As it turns out, the pipe’s story—and the secrets it carries—is far more intriguing than the islanders guessed.